The bizarre taste in helmets of Japanese samurai, generals and warlords would put any modern cosplayer to shame, and sengoku jidai buffs have been busily collecting up some of the most egregiously eccentric examples.

The classic Japanese helmet (“kabuto”) came into being during the Heian period, and became an essential martial accessory during the Sengoku Jidai period.

However, with feudal daimyo increasingly more interested in advertising their presence on the battlefield than participating directly in combat they began to take on less practical designs, eventually becoming the subject of the daimyo equivalent of creepy otaku collectors.

All this culminated in the “kawarikabuto,” or “strange helmet,” some of the finest surviving examples of which are presented below.

The helm of Gamō Ujisato, the Christian lord of Mutsu province and overlord of Obama castle – the helm atop his ebon armour is supposed to resemble the terrifying tail of a catfish, although modern Japanese cannot help but describe him as “lastboss class evil overlord”:

The zombie armour of Katō Kiyomasa, daimyo of Azuchi-momoyama, conqueror of half of Korea and vanquisher of Chinese general Yang Hao – his armour is meant to look like a rotting corpse:

The pointy helm of Mori Yoshinari, spear master lord of Mino province, who was mockingly called “19” (fingers and toes) because he managed to lose a finger in battle:

Mori Nagayoshi, a daimyo vassal of clan Oda who was famously ill-tempered, perhaps because of this helmet:

Barbarian quelling generalissimo Toyotomi Hideyoshi found carrying his war fan around the battlefield so much of a hassle he cheekily stashed it in his helmet – although given his military record it is hard to see his vast armies complaining:

His other helms are rather less practical:

Tachibana Muneshige, a samurai elevated to provincial lord and renowned for his kindness, was so keen nobody forget he was a big name (daimyo, “大名”, actually just means “big name”) that he had the character for “big” (大) incorporated in his helm:

He also had a stylish “○” helm which will be familiar to Koei fans:

Mori Ranmaru, the page (and hot teenage boy lover) of Oda Nobunaga, is legendary for cutting his belly in the honourable fashion after his master was forced to kill himself by a particularly treacherous general, actually had the entire “Namu-Amida-Butsu” Buddhist prayer worked into this rather showy helm:

Akechi Mitsuharu, a cousin of the aforementioned general, who famously gutted himself and then wrote a poem on a nearby door in his own blood after fleeing a military defeat (after helping out his dead lord by killing his wife and children), had this rather fetching set of bunny ears on his headgear:

Mercifully, the owner of this hare-emblazoned helm is not known:

No less than Uesugi Kenshin had this masterpiece (the moon and hare are intimately associated in Japanese mythology, explaining why rabbits were acceptable motifs to feudal warlords):

Another one of his memorable helms:

The fearsome nekomimi helm of Matsudaira Nobukazu, a Tokugawa daimyo, although it was actually modelled on the tufts of a horned owl:

Matsudaira Chikatada, a Tokugawa ancestor, had a furry helmet – although it certainly would make the wearer look like an ass, it was probably intended to resemble a deer:

Tōdō Takatora, a lowly ashigaru made good (rising up the ranks to become Toyotomi’s fleet admiral during the invasion of Korea and ending up as a feudal lord reporting to Tokugawa Ieyasu himself), had this preposterous helm made – said to be based on the head-wear of a Tang dynasty mandarin:

Yamauchi Toyomasa, an Edo period lord and master of the sword who bankrupted his province by squandering its wealth on Noh and feasting, never actually had a chance to test his skills in real battle, so his cute lop-eared bunny helm is perhaps appropriate:

A variation on the bunny helm – wave-rabbit:

Kuroda Nagamasa, a Tokugawa vassal whose second claim to fame was the notorious ugliness and imbecility of his son and heir, had this understated helm as his first:

His other famous helmet:

The owner of this intimidating helm evidently considered crabs the most intimidating sight he could present his foes with on the battlefield:

This one went one step further and chose a scallop:

A shrimp:

Turbo cornutus, the turban shell sea snail, is an obvious choice for a helmet:

Apostate daimyo Kuroda Yoshitaka, or Don Simeon to give him his soon abandoned Christian name, was a military strategist under Toyotomi, although why he chose to wear a bowl on his head is not clear:

The owner of this helm chose a vajra gripped in a fist for his kabuto, perhaps hoping some of its divine powers would be transferred to him on the field:

The owner of this piece seems to have anticipated western fashion by several centuries:

Fortunately Disney was not around to sue this general:

Date Shigezane, a northern general of some renown, chose a hairy caterpillar as his ornament as “they never take a step back”:

125 Comments

The top hat looking one is a confusian hat, they exhisted in China for over a thousand years, and in Korea for over half of that. I actually suspect the european top hat was modelled after this hat, as the top hat was well after established trade routes and british occupation of china.

haha this is incredible, half of the lords must of been tripping balls ahaha but I can see where the far east design comes from for some armours. But one or two are kinda cool or bizarre but no so you laugh at them.

While a lot of these helmets are hilarious, that zombie armor is fucking terrifying! Imagine seeing the enemy general coming at you wearing one of those — the battle would soon be over on account of soiled underpants.

On the battlefield, soldiers and generals of the general must be distinguished.
Samurai general for that indicate their presence was very important.
If you come to the melee, his subordinates will not know where you are your own main.
They are shown in the subordinate their position in the decoration of the helmet, the enemy showed his existence as so intimidating.

Proof that Otakus and nekomimi used to be leaders in battle but now that society has become more about licking ass and who you know and just collecting green little papers they can’t take it anymore so they try to not participate in it much. Lol.

Most of them are silly, but I’d be genuinely worried if I saw an enemy general dressed in that zombie armour across the battlefield – anyone so in love with death that they’d wear it as armour is probably someone who’d be willing to do some genuinely nasty things in battle.

It’s amazing how close some of the ridiculous helmet designs you see in Koei games like Kessen and Samurai Warriors were to the real thing. I’m surprised Kanetsugu Naoe’s famous “love” helmet wasn’t shown, that one’s awesome.

Yep… these helmets send a very clear message: “I’d sooner die than actually wield a weapon on the battlefield.”

If that’s not the case, then… wow. These things look like a massive handicap. A windy day or even a fast horse ride could have their heads twisting around beyond control and if someone found a way to actually leverage them (say a staff or naginata) they could probably twist some of these guys’ heads off like a screw cap…

Well, at least the first one looks like it would be useful as some sort of tactical slingshot. Tie a rubber band between the horns, gather some rocks or small explosives for ammo, and have a servant stand behind you to load and fire it.

Just aim with your face, call the shot, and voila: you’re raining hurt from across the battlefield with unique style.

Maybe so, but in a large battle you cannot get by with just the people doing the actual slaying. You also need people to order them around, and often these doubled as points of orientation (although some European armies employed banner bearers as well).
A large scale battle is unimaginably chaotic and if you spot a familiar helmet, you know the location of one of your units. The Romans faced the same problem and employed pretty much the same solution, although they favoured feather and brush crests over animal parts.
I’ve also seen rather extravagant Greek, Macedonian and Medieval helmets, although they don’t come close to the more extreme examples in this wonderful and excellent gallery.

Maybe so, but in a big battle you can’t just get by with people who do the actual fighting alone. You need some people around to give orders, and these usually double as orientation points (although some European armies had separate banner carriers). A battle is an unimaginably chaotic place and if you saw one of those helmets you’d know that one of your units was there.
The Romans had the same problem and more or less the same solution, except that they preferred feather or brush crests over animal ears, and were more uniform in design, which can probably be attributed to the greater political unity. Most of the time (excepting the occasional civil war) soldiers fought for the Roman Republic (or Empire) rather than for a particular warlord.
I’ve seen pretty impressive Greek, Macedonian and medieval helmets too, although none as extravagant as the more extreme examples in this gallery.

from what i heard, after a relative peace sttled in feudal japan, samurai armors were rarely used an became more a symbol for the families/clans/lords. this then resulted in artists being more creative and intricate in creating new armors, as these pieces of metal were less used for defending and more for decorating your room.

interesting…i actually saw several of those helmet designs on Shogun 2 Total War, i was pretty sure back then that the developers were just trolling with the design, but i guess i was wrong…truth is stranger than fiction XD

The Vikings wore round or pointed hats, mostly leather. The only evidence we have of a Viking with a spectacular helmet is on a single tapestry. The content suggests a special ceremonial helmet, and it may not even have been an actual warrior, maybe he was a priest, or not a Viking at all, a god for instance.

I also thought the same ..
Incredible how some helmets are identical to many sci-fi robots like the Gundams, the other robots of the 60 old ..
Others … well .. you should probably go into some comedy anime ..
uhauhauahu who knows if Walt dysney not copied the ears of his helmet …pic40

Some of those are actually pretty cool. Regardless, they show how silly of a country Japan has always been. First, silly hats. Then, some fisherman’s wife being so desperate for sexy time that she fantasizes about sweet love with a squid. Finally, we have teenagers and young adults baking cakes for the images of underage girls that have no physical presence in this world.

AAAAAAACTUALLY, I’m kinda interested in seeing just how more screwed up they get in the next 20 years.

Are you really that dumb or just plain retarded?
Not picking a fight, but you’ve got this completely backwards. You’d probably find that George lucas found his inspiration for the DV mask from these helmets.

In saying that, It’s nice to actually see an article of cultural note rather then the typical “Boobs, Boobs, Creepy molesters, Overreacting Schoolgirls, rankings that no one agrees with and Ishi “DIE IN A FIRE YOU ASSHOLE” hara” posts.